Scottish Executive

Benefits

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to ensure that local authorities improve their collection of recoverable overpayments of housing benefit.

Peter Peacock: Housing Benefit (HB), including overpayment, is a reserved matter under the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

  In April 2002, the DWP published a comprehensive set of performance standards for the administration of HB, including standards relating to the recovery of HB overpayments. In addition, the DWP provides a dedicated advice line for local authorities on HB overpayment matters and plans to issue a new overpayment guidance manual to HB staff towards the end of the year.

Drug Misuse

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its annual report on tackling drug misuse in Scotland for 2002.

Hugh Henry: Our annual report for 2002 is being published today. The report sets out progress made in 2002 across the four pillars of our drugs strategy, namely young people, communities, treatment and availability. Also outlined is the action we plan to take with our partners over the next 12 months.

  I am pleased to say that the report provides plenty evidence of how our record levels of investment are making an impact in communities across Scotland. New and improved treatment and rehabilitation services for drug misusers are being rolled out and there are examples of support for families and communities which are being affected by drug misuse. However, balanced against the many positive developments in the report are continuing concerns about the numbers of drug-related deaths, and waiting times for drug treatment in several areas. We are working with the Drug Action Teams and other agencies to address these problems, and there certainly is no room for complacency.

  Copies of the annual report have been made available to the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 26254) and it has also been published on the Executive's website, the ISD website (www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org) and the Know the Score website (www.knowthescore.info).

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will inform the board of management at St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane about the level of its annual recurring grant.

Nicol Stephen: The board of management was first informed of the level of the annual recurrent grant for 2002-03 last September and received a revised figure on 30 January 2003.

Education

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any concerns that St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane will not have sufficient funds to continue with the current level of teachers following its full transfer to Stirling Council and what plans it has to tackle any such concerns.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is aware of the concerns and of the fact that the school’s board of management has increased teacher numbers. The implications of the board’s actions are still under consideration.

Employment

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to retain and develop the skills of Clyde shipyard workers in light of the announcement by BAE Systems that it will make 265 Clyde shipyard workers redundant.

Iain Gray: The company will be consulting with the unions over the next few weeks and I hope that compulsory redundancies can be kept to a minimum. The Clyde Shipyards Task Force Redundancy Management sub-group will be meeting shortly to provide support as necessary, to those affected through a dedicated local response team under the Executive's PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) framework. This will ensure a rapid response from local agencies in terms of offering advice, support and guidance in terms of retraining/upskilling and employment opportunities.

Employment

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it has allocated to the Clyde Shipyard Task Force in light of the announcement by BAE Systems that it will make 265 Clyde shipyard workers redundant.

Iain Gray: The Redundancy Management sub-group of the Clyde Shipyards Task Force is ready to go into action again as soon as necessary. The organisations represented on the redundancy sub-group, particularly JobCentre Plus, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and Glasgow City Council, already have access to a considerable amount of training and retraining funds and a range of training programmes will be made available as appropriate to any workers made redundant by BAE Systems.

Employment

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Clyde shipyard engineers have been invited to undertake skills conversion courses to fill any shortage of central heating engineers.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Clyde shipyard engineers have taken up places on skills conversion courses to fill any shortage of central heating engineers.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when Clyde shipyard engineers were first invited to take up places on skills conversion courses to fill any shortage of central heating engineers.

Iain Gray: Clyde shipyard engineers were first invited to take up skills conversion training courses in February 2002. Forty-six engineers were invited and, to date, 40 have been interviewed. Fourteen have taken places on conversion courses.

Employment

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the duration is of the Clyde shipyard skills conversion programme.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many places are currently available to Clyde shipyard workers on the skills conversion programme.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been allocated to support the Clyde shipyard skills conversion programme.

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when funding began for the Clyde shipyard skills conversion programme.

Iain Gray: The Clyde Shipyards skills conversion programme is on-going with a continuing commitment to identify skill gaps and develop needs for the future. To date, 45 employees have been involved in the cross skilling programmes. The programme began in early 2002 and is funded by BAE SYSTEMS.

Employment

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will quantify any shortage of central heating engineers.

Iain Gray: Industry estimates are that Scotland will require to train around 2,600 central heating installers by December 2004 to ensure that supply matches demand.

Employment

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to retain and develop the skills of Clyde shipyard workers.

Iain Gray: The Clyde Shipyards Task Force Redundancy Management sub-group will be meeting shortly to provide support as necessary to those affected through a dedicated local response team under the Executive's PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) framework. This will ensure a rapid response from local agencies in terms of offering advice, support and guidance in terms of retraining/upskilling and employment opportunities.

  To retain and develop skills further, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, in partnership with BAE SYSTEMS, established a Real Learning Centre at Scotstoun in December 2002. A similar facility is being established in Govan and will be in place during February 2003. The centres allow staff to take up online learning opportunities and if they wish, work towards qualifications.

Energy Efficiency

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many defaults there have been on loans granted under the Loan Action Scotland scheme since the scheme was established.

Lewis Macdonald: There have been four defaults since the scheme was established in 1999.

Environment

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30207 by Ross Finnie on 16 October 2002, when the report by Environment Resources Management into litter legislation will be published.

Ross Finnie: The report submitted by Environmental Resources Management will be published when the Scottish Executive has fully considered the recommendations. The report was somewhat delayed from initial plans, in order to take account of comments from the advisory group, which included representatives from local government, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Environment

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have formal litter plans in place.

Ross Finnie: Aberdeen City Council, Stirling Council and Shetland Islands Council currently have formal litter plans.

Environment

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what publicity it has funded, or intends to fund, on tackling litter and fly-tipping.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive provides annual core funding of £234,000 to Keep Scotland Beautiful, which runs a number of anti-litter initiatives. Over the last year, additional funding of £900,000 has been secured to bolster this programme, including the Have Some Pride anti-litter poster campaign, launched in March 2002.

  As part of the Executive’s Quality of Life Initiative, in addition to the £95 million allocated to local authorities this year, a further £180 million has been provided over the next three years to fund local initiatives that will improve the local environment and quality of life. Around £3 million of this year's allocation has been committed to litter reduction schemes and councils can use this money to raise awareness through publicity campaigns.

Environment

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding sources are available to local authorities to reduce littering and fly-tipping.

Ross Finnie: Local authorities fund environmental initiatives from monies distributed by the Executive and from their own resources. As part of the Executive’s Quality of Life Initiative, £95 million was allocated to local authorities this year, and a further £180 million has been provided over the next three years, in addition to regular annual funding. These additional resources were made available to fund local initiatives that will improve the local environment and quality of life. Around £3 million of this year's allocation has been committed to litter reduction schemes. In addition, the Executive has made £20 million available over the next three years to put in place a network of community wardens, one of whose tasks will be to combat littering.

European Funding

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action has been taken to prioritise European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund payments to further education colleges in order to aid cash flow.

Peter Peacock: In the main, European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund payments are made in order of receipt. The Scottish Executive aims to pay correctly completed claims within 30 days of receipt of a valid claim but always seeks to respond sympathetically to requests from vulnerable organisations for urgent payment.

Justice

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sheriff court cases in (a) Scotland and (b) each sheriff court were adjourned on the day of commencement in 2002 and what the reasons for any such adjournment were.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times in each year since 1999 the Parole Board for Scotland has been asked by social work departments to recall a sex offender that they believe to be in breach of licence and how many times the board has refused.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Young Offenders

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been achieved on fast-track hearings.

Cathy Jamieson: Fast-track hearings in the three pilot areas – East Lothian and Scottish Borders; Dundee, and North, East and South Ayrshire – will begin operating tomorrow. The pilots will run for two years and are designed to address the behaviour of around 8% of young offenders who account for just over one third of youth crime in the pilot area communities.

  Extra services have been put in place across the pilot areas to ensure that programmes are available to tackle offending behaviour. The Executive has funded extra intensive support places, specialist foster care support, educational support places, and additional programmes in residential and secure accommodation. The pilots will be subject to independent evaluation. Guidance has been issued, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26222). This has been developed by all partners – pilot authorities, reporters, police, children’s panel representatives and the voluntary sector.